Champagne Alternatives Great Bubbly at a Great Price

There is much debate as how champagne was actually developed, the popular tale of a blind Benedictine monk named Dom Perignon who invented this sparkling wine and shouted out the first time he tasted it,  " come quickly, I have tasted the stars" is mostly a fabricated myth used in the 1800's as advertising copy. 

There was a monk Dom Perignon, (and a famous champagne is named after him) but he was not blind and no one knows if he was in the habit to shout out anything. He was cellar master at the Abbey of Hautvilliers until his death in 1715. He worked constantly to improve both the vineyards and the making of the abbey wines and is credited with many improvements including adding the wire collar around the cork to hold it on. 

It was his successors that started the stories about him to bring more prestige to the abbey. With sparkling wines the bubbles are developed during a second fermentation, a process that had been know to happen since ancient times. 

This unchecked second fermentation could cause exploding bottles and great damage to the cellars and anyone working in them at the time. It was only in the 1700s that the science of why this second fermentation was happening was understood and the method began to be controlled with the deliberate adding of sugar to cause the bubbles. Improvements of thicker bottles to contain the fermentation and racking systems to facilitate the removal of sediment greatly improved the quality of champagne.

Champagne was marketed as the drink preferred by royalty and nobles and by the 1860's had a celebrity endorsement by the wildly popular and elegant entertainer of the day George Leybourne who not only was paid to write songs about champagne but had it written into his contract that it was to be the only beverage he would be seen to drink in public, 

Over and over again in advertising champagne was depicted as the preferred drink of the wealthy and elite and a symbol of the good life. When motion pictures started it was made sure that image was carried into the new medium.

Champagne is a sparkling wine and sparkling wines are made in many countries through out the world but by law these wines can not be called Champagne even though the sparkling wine that is produced can be of wonderful quality. The French are very serious about the strict designation that only sparkling wines from the Champagne district in France can be called Champagne. France produces over 125 million cases (1.5 billion bottles) of champagne a year and it fiercely guards the trade mark to this very lucrative business.

Not all sparkling wines will taste like champagne because of the quality of the grape, the length of the fermentation, or if additives have been included for flavour or to speed up the fermentation process. 

Champagne is strictly regulated in France from the type of grapes that can be used to the method of storage. All of this factors into the cost of a bottle of champagne. But if you want the champagne experience at a fraction of the cost then take a look at the sparkling wines of Spain, (cava) Italy, (prosecco and asti) Germany (sekt) and Australia among other countries. 

If a vineyard can produce a great bottle of sparkling wine at significantly less cost, you should be the one to reap the benefits. Ask for recommendations at your local wine store and go on line to see what other people might suggest. As different stores carry a wide range of product you might have to hunt around a while until you find a store that carries what you want. Remember that wines are ever changing from year to year depending on the growing conditions of the grapes, what might be alright one year might be great the next. 

The sweetness of Champagne is categorized, Brut, (dry less than 1.5 % sugar) Extra Sec, (extra dry 1.2 to 2% sugar) Sec, (medium sweet 1.7 to 3.5% sugar) Demi-Sec, ( sweet 3.3 to 5% sugar) and Doux, (very sweet over 5% sugar). Sparkling wines also come in different categories of sweetness and while some use the French terms others do not so check the bottles for information. You do not want to serve a sweet sparkling desert wine when you thought it would be extra dry.

There might be times in you life where you believe only a true bottle of French Champagne is appropriate to mark the occasion, (read up on it a bit before you go buy) but if you want to add some sparkle to a summers evening with friends, a Sunday morning brunch or a happy milestone, why not pull out a bottle of sparkling wine?

So what to know about drinking your bubbly?  First off it should be chilled to a temperature of about 45-50 F (7-10 C). You can do this by either placing it in the refrigerator for about 3 hours (minimum) or placing it in a wine bucket with ice and some water and letting it sit for about 30 minutes. 

When opening your bubbly you do not want it to overflow and shoot out all over the place ( unless you are the winner of an auto racing event or other sports affair). Remove the foil from the top, then show your style and place a white napkin over the cork,(the napkin is just in case you do get an exploding cork but to be on the safe side make sure you are pointed away from anyone or objects of high value) and untwist the metal wiring counter clockwise 6 twists. Holding the cork in the napkin use your other hand to firmly twist the bottle, you will feel the pressure push the cork out of the bottle.

Have your toast ready to say, it might be as simple as staring into someone's eyes and whispering, "To memories," as you bring your glass to your lips or it might be raising your glass as a signal that you are about to address a room full of people.

And lastly if you are dealing with wine snobs who just don't consider any sparkling wine equal to champagne do what one wealthy British noble did in the 70's when tired of the snobbery surrounding wines- he would have the labels soaked off the bottles and have his guests take guesses at what they were drinking.

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Copyright Ingrid Talpak 2009
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